Wednesday, February 3, 2016

I feel stupid and contagious (Nirvana) #510 - 515

Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit/ Even In His Youth/ Aneurysm (Geffen, 1991)
Nirvana Lithium/ Been A Son (live)/ Curmudgeon (Geffen, 1991)
Nirvana Come As You Are/ Endless Nameless/ School (live)/ Drain You (live) (Geffen, 1991)
Nirvana In Bloom/ Sliver (live)/ Polly (live) (Geffen, 1992)
Nirvana All Apologies/ Rape Me/ Moist Vagina (Geffen, 1993)
Nirvana Heart Shaped Box/ Milk It/ Marigold 
(Geffen, 1993)

A slight confession: I'm a fan of the more produced Bleach/Nevermind Nirvana (especially Nevermind) but not so much the live shambles Nirvana or the In Utero raw Nirvana.

I bought a cassette of In Utero but I've never bothered to upgrade to a CD or vinyl so, yeah, that tells a story.

I'm also not a huge fan of the cult of personality around mainman Kurt Cobain. Every junkie's like a setting sun, you know!

So these singles are a mixed bag for me. On one hand we have the largely brilliant A sides, and then we have the live or outtake tracks on the B sides.

The one two three punch of the 1991 singles is beyond equal. The sheer sonic attack of Nevermind songs like Teen Spirit Lithium and Come As You Are were each like a slap in the face in the nineties after the dire eighties overblown years.

And they still are! None better than Teen Spirit below.

Hidden gems: So - not so much on the B sides for me. The punk thrash of something like Marigold does nothing for me finstance.

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